Details

“Does the sun ask itself, “Am I good? Am I worthwhile? Is there enough of me?” No, it burns and it shines. Does the sun ask itself, “What does the moon think of me? How does Mars feel about me today?” No it burns, it shines. Does the sun ask itself, “Am I as big as other suns in other galaxies?” No, it burns, it shines.”

–- Andrea Dworkin, 'From Our Blood'

So often I let life pass me by in blocks so that I never see the small details. It has been awhile since I spent any amount of time looking carefully at what usually passes me by in a blur.

A clump of weeds at the side of the road takes on a new meaning when looked at close up. It becomes a landscape in its own right, filled with shade and light and mystery. It's Mike Sibley's class that pushed me to explore the world at my feet more thoroughly. I tried the method of Negative Drawing using Kit as an example, but it didn't work out as I wanted.

The drawing of the horse is ok, but the background is too nebulous to be effective and my patience in trying to create it has dwindled. So I chose a new image to try the technique. Its a fairly slow process of building up the tones and letting background recede and the foreground catch the viewer's eye, making it all believable.

The berries of the mountain ash trees in the garden are starting to change colour, a signal that summer is closing in. This year, the good weather at flowering time has ensured that the tree is covered in berries which the birds feed on all winter. In Newfoundland these trees are called 'dogberry trees'.

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